The raven and the snake
by Mia lovely
Summary: Ivy Ollivander always thought she knew who she was and where she came from. That is until she catches the eye of a certain silver-haired bully. Who is much too persistent for his own good. (DracoxOC) A Draco Malfoy love story?


The raven and the snake

"Who told you only the soft could be good mothers? That mothers could not be dragons in disguise? That women who teach their daughters how to preserve themselves by breathing out lightning were anything less than wild, magical things "

\- Nikita Gill, Mother Maleficent

Prologue

Gwendolen's P.O.V

Summer of 1991 - New York

"Mommy, am I unlovable?"

A bit startled by the question. Gwendolen Ollivander dropped the paint brush that was in her hand. It landed with a loud, wet thud on the old newspaper beneath her bare feet. Grabbing the moist towel that hung off her easel. Gwen wiped her hands clean of the blue and yellow paint that stained her skin.

"What?" She turned to the small voice. Only to find a set of innocent blue eyes looking up at her. Her daughter's eyes. Those big and beautiful electric blue eyes. So brilliant, so vibrant, so much like her father's. "Where is this coming from sweetheart? You know you are the most loved little girl in all the world. Who told you this?"

"Well..." The little blonde looked down to her shoes. A sad expression painted on her pale face. "The kids at the park were talking about their fathers - and well, I don't have one." She shrugs her shoulders in that way that all children do when trying to appear nonchalant. But Gwen knew better.

"Ivy, sweetpea, you do have a father." Pulling her daughter close. Gwen pressed a soft kiss to her temple. "He's the very best wand maker in all-"

Ivy shook her head. "No mommy, that's not what I mean." She pouted. "I love granddad. But he's not really my father. He's my grandfather." Ivy tone was serious. Much too serious for a young girl of only eleven. "Brenda Fortenberry says I don't have a father because he didn't want me. She says that all fathers love their children very much. But the ones that leave. They leave because their children are bad and unlovable."

Gwendolen winced at those words. How in the world did that Fortenberry brat think it was her place to say such things to her daughter? Brenda was four years Ivy's senior. She should know better than to say such things. Looking at her daughter's grief-stricken face. Gwen was overcome with sadness. Was she failing as a mother? Did she not provide Ivy with enough love and stability?

She should have known that simply moving away from all her problems was not going to miraculously fix things. Just because she put an ocean of distance between her daughter and the dark cloud that was her father, and his rotten legacy. That did not mean he could not still find a way to manifest himself into their lives in some form or another.

"Sweetheart, your father..." She paused. How did one tell their child that their father was not a good man? Her father - he was... complicated. He was a man ruled by his ambition. An unstoppable force, capable of doing terrible things. He was fearless, reckless, and never willing to back down from a fight. There was once a time when she use to think of him as brave. But those days have long since passed. "Your father and I had difficult relationship. He was a very troubled man. One day when you're old enough. We'll talk about your father."

"You promise?"

"Yes my darling, I promise." She caressed Ivy's soft cheek. Before kneeling down on one knee to be at eye level with her. "But I need you to know something. What Brenda told you today. It was wrong. You're father did love you. The reason he's not here now has nothing to do with you. Do you understand Ivy? Your father wanted you."

That much she knew was true. In his own strange and unusual way. Her father did love them. Just not enough to put his love for them above his lust for power. That was what had doomed them to fail from the very start. She was far too blinded by love back in those days. So much so that she was unable or unwilling to see their story for what it truly was.

A tragedy.

-x-

A slow work in progress. But a long time labor of love of mine. I've had this story in my head for so long. I'm just now deciding to finally share it with the world. I hope you all like it.


End file.
